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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Strength (MSF 309)
ex AM 309



November - Quebec - Xray - Zulu
Admirable Class Minesweeper:
  • Built by Associated Shipbuilders, Harbor Island, Seattle, WA
  • Contracted, 02 May 1942 (NOBS 130)
  • Laid down, 04 October 1943
  • Launched, 28 March 1944
  • Commissioned USS Strength (AM 309), 30 September 1944
  • Decommissioned at Orange, TX, 19 July 1946
  • Reclassified Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull) MSF 309, 07 February 1955
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 01 April 1967
  • Used as a training hulk at the U.S. Navy Diving and Salvage School, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC
  • Moved to Panama City, FL, when Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC) relocated there, 1980
  • Intentionally scuttled as artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Panama City, FL as part of the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail (30° 01.960' N, 85° 42.554 W), 19 May 1987

    Specifications:
  • Displacement 945 tons (fl)
  • Length 184' 6"
  • Beam 33'
  • Draft 9' 9"
  • Speed 14.8 knots
  • Complement 104
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount, one twin 40mm gun mount, six 20mm gun mounts, one depth charge projector (hedgehog), four depth charge projectors (K-guns) and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Strength (AM 309)
    Strength
    110230902    		 310k Undereay during World War II, date and location unknown. Ray Germany
    Strength
    110230901    		 80k
    Strength slowly comes up from the mud during salvage exercises, Oxon Hill Run Cove, Oxon Hill, MD. Note Suitland (YF-336) moored alongside.
    US Navy photo from All Hands magazine, September 1969.    		 Joe Radigan
    Strength
    110230904    		 65k Eight views of Strength in use as salvage training hulk at Oxon Hill Cove, MD, November 1978. Duane Bass
    nky-photos.com
    Strength
    110230905    		 81k
    Strength
    110230906    		 87k
    Strength
    110230907    		 73k
    Strength
    110230908    		 74k
    Strength
    110230910    		 69k
    Strength
    110230911    		 91k
    Strength
    110230911    		 127k
    Strength
    110230914    		 121k Four views of Strength being scuttled as reef, 19 May 1987.
    Photos via Scuba Panama City Beach    		 Dave Wright
    Strength
    110230915    		 105k
    Strength
    110230916    		 676k
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    110230917    		 223k
    Strength
    110230903    		 25k Photo from Panama City Diving Tommy Trampp
    Strength
    110230912    		 112k Strength dive map from Florida Scuba Diving. The wreck originally lay on its side, but was righted by Hurrciane Opal in 1995. Dave Wright
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR William D. White, USNR30 September 1944
    02LT Robert John Lyman, USNR16 November 1945
    03LTJG John Charles McLeod, USNR24 January 1946
    04LTJG Grant Eric Nelson, USNR15 April 1946
    05ENS James William Whit, USNR17 May 1946
    06LT George Paul Hoenninger, USNR10 June 1946 - 19 July 1946
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody
    View the Strength (MSF 309)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Fleet Minesweeper (MSF) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 30 January 2025